A day full of giveaways!

Hey friends!

Just wanted to let you know of a bunch of giveaways going on today in the blogger world!

Over at Tatertots and Jello there are several giveaways going on!

Heal my Sole is offering a $40 shop credit! You can check out Heal my Sole's website HERE to see what types of things they offer. Personally I would love to try out the Dead sea salt and the cucumber melon massage oil!

Next is a $50 gift certificate to Wine Sunday!
Visit Wine Sunday's Shop HERE

I love a good glass of wine now and then but it takes me a while to actually finish a bottle.
Putting the original cork back in can be next to impossible sometimes! So this would be my first pick of things to get from their shop.

I mean who doesn't love a beautiful hand crafted wine stopper!

isn't the wine bottle light just BEAUTIFUL?!

Royal Design Studio is giving away a free stencil (up to $50, with free shipping!)
You can check them out HERE to see what all they have to offer.
My favorite is probably the Endless Circle Lattice 


Oh My Crafts is giving away a $50 Gift Card!
Just think of all of the awesome stuff you could get HERE!
I know I AM!

Cottage Coastal Store is giving away a $100 Gift Certificate!
They have some really beautiful things...Now personally I know my husband is not a fan of "beachy" "nautical" things but they have some other amazing options such as these HERE

Last but not least Jo Totes is giving away the bag of your choice!

Now obviously you HAVE to go check them out HERE

But I'll show you a couple of my favorites :)

Cute right?! and its for your camera!!! :)

Anyways...There is your day of giveaways! Thanks all to TT&J!

Go enter one, or two, or all of them! Leave me a comment saying you did. :)

I'm off to put in my last entries for some of these myself!

Silhouette Cameo Giveaway!

Hey guys....I know 3 posts in one day! GASP!
But I just HAVE to tell you about the fantastic giveaway going on over at T&J

It's for a Silhouette Cameo!!!

Isn't that just BEAUTIFUL!

I would like to win this so I could create some stencils to be able to etch on glass.

Example: 

I really really want to etch my last name in all of my Pyrex dishes as my mother in-law and both married sister in-laws all have the same Pyrex I have and we never can tell who's is who's. Plus all of those church dinners would be that much easier making sure you ended up with the correct dish!

besides...isn't that just BEAUTIFUL?!

plus there is TONS of stuff you could decide to do with it!

I am officially drooling over this product and crossing my fingers that I would win this giveaway!

Quicksilver Creations Giveaway with Pinapotamus

Hey everyone.
Yep, Its happening again! There is an awesome giveaway out there for you all to check out.

Quicksilver Creations is giving away a $20 Shop Credit towards anything in her shop!
Or you can also put it towards a custom order!

Just take a look at some of the beautiful work Quicksilver has for sale in her shop!

The last picture is an example of some of the custom stamping she does.
Who wouldn't want to win this?! Just take note that you have 5 steps to complete to get 1 entry to this giveaway and to receive a second entry you can blog about the giveaway (As I am doing right now!).

Like it, Love it, WIN IT!

I want to post an update on how I'm doing on my list of things to do before the start of the new year.
So here is an update on week 1 of 11. I am going to put a number at the start of each one that goes to the number on the original list so you can reference back easily :)

2)I finally just got the final tools I need to give the trunk the face lift it desperately needs. Minus the paint for all the metal portions of the trunk. Haven't quite found exactly what I want for it.
Its so beautiful as it is quite honestly but I just know that we will LOVE it that much more once its all redone.
I have been slowly working on it a little bit every so often to strip out the old paper that is lining the inside.

3) The mirror is all stripped, needs a light sand job and just needs to be painted! I may even work on that more tonight. Really excited that this is o close to being complete!

4) I have started this and have several things sorted out, gave a few things to my sister and am just waiting a little bit to take the clothes to the consignment shop.

5) Sent a card to a friend last week and have a few people in mind for upcoming cards :)

8) I am reading the book "Like Dandelion Dust" by Karen Kingsbury and I am on Chapter 10! Now I HAD started to read this book before the list but had put it down for quite sometime. I did just pick up from where I had left off from and still remembered everything that was going on so I am happy to say that I have a good start on this. There are 28 chapters to this book so this really shouldn't be a problem.

9) Well last week I cleaned the shower, today I started cleaning the washer, and have been making all around really good strides around the house.

6) I did exercise 3 times last week! I was hoping to do it even more than that last week but I am VERY happy to say I did do it the 3 times I put on my list to do.

10) I am so thankful for my son and the fact that I have every day opportunities to teach him new things, get down on the floor with him to play, and snuggle before bed while watching some of a movie. I know not all mommies get that privilege as they have to work to provide for their families.

1) This is probably the one I am most excited to say that I only missed one day last week. And quite honestly I had some really amazing and profound conversations with God over the last week. Its been very enjoyable. I've been trying hard for a long time to be consistent in this area of my life but haven't been. I think it was a matter of changing my mind set of it having to be the first thing I did in the morning to when ever I could do it even if it ended up being before I went to bed. I would still prefer it to be first thing in the morning as it puts me in a better place and makes the whole rest of the day go so much smoother just because I spent some time being alone and quiet with God. I'm not saying that things are then perfect that day, Sometimes they are down right the hardest days all week. I just am at a better place to handle them because I know I'm not handling life alone. Make sense?

13) This is the one thing on my list that is the most overwhelming for me as of right now. :(


oh well. I'm off to spend some time alone with God and enjoy a cup of coffee, then work, and maybe get the Mirror all sanded and ready for paint tonight! :)

"I don't talk so good!"

Jeremiah 1:4-10

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak;

I am only a child."

But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.'

You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

"God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." -Unknown

Isn't that always the excuse we give to God?

"I don't know what to say!" or " I'm not qualified, use that person over there instead.  That IS what they have their degree in after all!" 

Both Moses and Jeremiah tried to use this excuse on God.

"Hey um God,...Don't you remember who you're talking to here?! I don't talk so good.I stutter. I'm afraid of large crowds. Couldn't you just pick someone else?! Please."

But God didn't just say, "Oh yeah! You're right, I forgot." 

Instead he told them what to say and literally put His words into their mouths.

Then they both tried to play the age card.

Jeremiah said "I'm too young!"

Moses said "I'm too old!"

But God knew exactly what He was doing and chose to call them at exactly the right age.

And once they were finally done giving excuses, He used them in mighty ways.

You are never too young, or too old to be used by God in mighty ways.

You just have to stop giving excuses and be willing to let Him speak through you.

God gives us the words He wants us to say at just the right time.

The question is, Are you ready and willing to let Him use you? 

No matter what your age is?

12 by 2012

So I was wandering around in the blogging world and came across someone's post about doing 12 things before 2012. I thought this sounded interesting and wanted to know some more about it and then realized that it was something someone was linking up to. So I went to the originator of the 12 by 2012. Danni over at  Oh, Hello Friend created this as a way to push herself to get a few things done before the start of a new year. (I'll let you check out her blog for the full rundown.) A few things that are just lingering. In checking out several of the others who have linked up it seems as though it is a lot of things people intended to do anyways but need the deadline to keep themselves from continuing to put them off. So thank you Danni for creating this challenge and making it a linky party so it'll help keep all of us accountable. Here's to everyone working to get 12 (or more...or less) things done before the start of the new year. And now I'm off to make a physical list so I can put it up somewhere so I can see it and be reminded to follow through on some of this... (like No.6...)

11 Weeks, 14 Items... I can do this!

1. Spend real quality time alone with God at some point in time during the day, every day, even if it can't be first thing in the morning. 
2. Give the beautiful trunk a major face life and get it in our room with the extra blankets inside.
3. Give the mirror a face lift and hang it in our room 
4. Clean out clothes I do not wear and take them to a consignment shop.
5. Send a card to a different friend once a week. (11 Cards in total. 3 of 11 Done)
6. Exercise at least Three times a week in my home. (5,10,15) 
7. Make Home Made Bread Dough 3 Times. (giving me 9 loaves of bread.)
8. Finish reading at least one book. 
9. Make some major strides in the Chaos Cleaning Project. (Including scrubbing the shower, fridge, and washing machine.)
10. Take more time to get down on the floor and play with my son. (not that I don't do this but I also need to make a more conscious effort to do this and take the time to just get right down on his level, not make him come up to mine.)
11. Sit down with Hubby and revamp our budget and really stick to it so we can get out of debt together.
12. Make realistic goals for starting the shop including short term and long term goals.
13. Complete Two Mei Tais.
14. Blog about each thing as I check it off my list. :)

Waiting....

Some days I feel like we're just waiting for our lives to begin.
Like we're waiting for something that'll finally start our lives.
Maybe its that we'll finally have our own place and that will make our lives begin.
Maybe its that my husband will finally have his dream job and that will start our life.

"I get so afraid sometimes that our lives are never going to start." -Holly

"Baby, we're already in our life. It's already started! This is it! You have to stop waitin', Baby." -Gerry

But I am done waiting. I'm sick of waiting. I'm tired of waiting.
I want to live.
Obviously there are things we will still be waiting on, like Dowe's dream job and our own place.
But I can still let myself live life to the fullest in the here and now.

So that is what I am doing.
Do I know what this means in its entirety?... No.
I am looking forward to this journey though.
I do know it will mean more projects around the house, spending more time relaxing and living, more time with my boys, more time with family and friends, more time to just stop and enjoy the coffee.
It will mean less time stressing out and worrying, less time wasting time waiting, fewer days of sitting on the couch in pjs because I just don't feel like the day is worth getting dressed for. (yep, I have those days too.)

What about you?... Are you living? I mean really living, or are you still waiting?

This would be a perfect day for you to start as well.

Giveaway

Naptime Diaries is at it again with a huge giveaway!

With all sorts of great prizes there really is something for everyone.
I of course have a few favorites (as always.)
Plus for those of us who aren't the lucky winner..there are massive amounts of discounts from the shops that provided some of the great prizes in this giveaway!

Jessie over at NTD has been a huge inspiration and source of major encouragement.
And though I have yet to win any of the giveaways (maybe this one will be the one!)
It doesn't even matter simply because her blogs are so amazing and worth the reading.
I have several blogs I "follow" but NTD is the one I am constantly talking about and always make sure I go back and catch up on the few I've missed. So be sure to check out the giveaway and the blog! :)

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Don't Leave Tigger Behind!

Its amazing how kids can become so attached to something.
My son has this cute little Tigger stuffed animal that he cannot live without!
Thankfully he is a cute and not ridiculously huge to have to tote around.

see what I mean? Cute right?

He refuses to take naps without Tigger and bedtime is a nightmare if Tigger is MIA.
This past Sunday we went to my parent's house for a family get together which included my dad's whole side of the family and their kids. So at this fun party we had my Grandparents (Dad's parents) my Grandma (mom's mom) My parents, 4 Aunts, 4 Uncles, 6 Cousins, My sister, Dowe, myself, and Monkey. A grand total of 23, 24 people...Aunt J is pregnant! YAY!

My parent's house is small so having all of those people inside just wont work. So it was an outside really fun picnic. Until it started to pour that is! Thankfully we had one tent type thing up to sit under while the storm passed. That is...until the storm came back with a vengeance. Lightning struck really close by and scared most of us enough to cram into my parent's house. Then we lost power at around 5 I think.

Seriously best family picnic ever! No really. It was a lot of fun. We actually didn't get power back until around 10:30pm but everyone was cool about it. We really did have a nice time. A lot of the family left around 6:30 but we stayed and visited with my parents longer. Once the rain stopped we all went back outside (the 6 of us that were still there) and sat around the fire pit and toasted S'mores. I did my sisters nails by flashlight and firelight just because we could and then packed up to head home.

We were getting ready to leave just as the lights came on. Now as I said before my son is completely attached to Tigger. We have had Tig since before Monkey was born and he has been in the crib ever since it was set up. Monkey was toting Tigger around Mima's and Papa's house while we were getting ready to go and some how...He got left behind!

Dowe and I were already on the road a little ways when I asked him "We grabbed Tigger right?" He said he wasn't totally sure but he thought he was in one of the bags. We decided not to pull over and check or to turn around as we had a drive ahead of us and were starting to get tired.

Once home, I looked all through the car, checked in all of the bags, and discovered Tigger had been left behind. I sent a text to my mom letting her know we were home but that Tigger had gotten left behind and we would have to figure out when we could get him back.

Now mind you it probably wouldn't have been such a big deal except that Monkey started cutting his incisor teeth. They are officially the WORST teeth to have to cut. He has been a miserable little boy lately and not having his Tigger has not helped one bit!

My parents stopped by on their way to a business board meeting and brought us the long lost friend. My boy has been MUCH happier all day. Tigger hasn't been far from his side all day and he has gotten many many hugs and kisses. More than this mommy in fact. I'm even starting to get slightly jealous. Oh well, at least my monkey is happier and even though he's still in some pain trying to cut some teeth he has his Tig by his side. :)


Note to self....Never leave Tigger behind again! Take the time to make sure 100% that we have him with us!

My Latest Addiction.

Ok so I have a bunch of blogs coming shortly to fill you in on whats been going on in our lives as of lately...

Detox, Vacation, Monkey, The Etsy Shop, and lots of other things...but for now I am just simply posting what has become my FAVORITE song. I literally played this song pretty much non stop all day long yesterday and so far most of today.

I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

I am really loving Adele lately and this song just oh my word. Amazing.

Another Awesome Giveaway!

Naptime Diaries always has THEEEE best Giveaways...which is why you see blog posts on it so frequently...
(It gives me extra entries into the awesomeness!)

Some of the beautiful things being given away this time are:.....


Beautiful Prints






Gift Cards and Shop Credits

and Beautifully Hand Crafted Goodies!!









And this is just SOME of what you can win!!! Go to Naptime Diaries to see the rest!

Best Friend EVER!!!!

I seriously have the best friend ever.

sipping a coconut in Hawaii!

This is my Beautiful friend Kay . Kay and I haven't gotten to see each other this month as we haven't had group, she's had a wedding, I'm headed off on vacation...and...Life. Life has just been getting in the way.

We text as frequently as we can which usually ends up to be every other day. Yesterday we were texting and though I was having an alright day, I had a VERY crabby Monkey. Today Kay texted to see if Monkey was doing better and I honestly told her that though he wasn't as crabby, he was very whiney and intentionally naughty. (Can you say Hello Terrible Twos at 14months?!) I went on to tell her that "I really hate to say this but I so need this vacation!....I seriously feel like crying." Kay: "Hm....well I have an errand to run, what if I run that then come over and kidnap him for an hour or so and go on a walk...give you a little break."
I let her know that our good stroller wasn't here and all that I had was an umbrella stroller. After her telling me that she didn't care and that it would work fine, I balled.

I cried pretty much on and off until she got here to steal Monkey away and when we hugged I started to lose it again.   I have the best friend EVER!


Knowing I had roughly an hour I went to work on things around the house preparing for the up and coming vacation. I worked and texted Dowe telling him how thankful I was that Kay took Monkey but how guilty I was feeling at the same time. Pushing through it though I was able to get a lot done. Then I heard it....


Thunder!   Oh...No.... My dear sweet fried and son are out on a walk and there's a random storm coming in. I texted her to see if they needed me to go pick them up. Knowing I had her car keys and car here made it better knowing I could go pick them up if I needed to. She told me they were chilling out in her parent's van. They had walked to the park where her mom was playing music with a group of people.




Then she sent me this:

To which I just laughed.
They eventually arrived back at the house, safe and dry. Kay and I talked for a bit before she needed to head home and Monkey needed to go to bed. It was so nice getting to spend some time with her and to have a little break.


So tonight...don't forget to thank God for those dear sweet friends He has placed in your life.
People like Kay who God placed into my life right after Monkey was born.

Hot Lemon Water Detox

What is a hot lemon water detox you ask?
Well...Its just that... Hot Lemon Water.

Want to do it for yourself?...

• Take a 1/4 of a lemon and squeeze it into a NORMAL sized mug.
  (I say normal because my mom's and my favorite mugs hold more like 2.5 cups of coffee instead of the real one cup.)

• Leave the slice of lemon in your mug and pour really hot water over it.
  I send my water through my coffee maker simply because its easier to pour it from there.

• Let it all steep for roughly 30 seconds to a minute...or until its cooled down just enough to drink.
  
• Drink the lemon water as hot as you can stand it....I'm not quite sure what it is about the temp but the hotter it is the better it seems to work.

How many times a day and what time of day?

My hubby is doing this once a day first thing in the morning before eating breakfast.

My mom does this in the evening just before bed.

I am doing this 3 times a day. First thing in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening.

Remember, I am only doing this for 4 days this intensely. I did it just before my wedding with my mom once a day in the evenings for around two weeks. The length of time is really up to you. Also the foods you choose to or not to eat while doing this detox is also up to you. I am trying to mostly do a raw foods detox with a little dairy and very very little meat. Before my wedding I didn't change anything about what I ate. That is all really up to you. :) Hope you enjoy!

Detox Day One (and) Two.

Before I go into how the first two of four intense days of Detox are going I have to let you all in on a little secret... (shh don't tell anyone....) Dowe is doing the detox with me! Now I will tell you he is not doing as extreme of a detox as I am but he is doing a daily morning hot lemon water with me. :)

I began the detox Tuesday morning with a nice hot steaming mug of Lemon water!

YUM!

I then made lunch for the boys and something else for me. The Boys had a Chicken Alfredo and I make my own white sauce for it. One of my favorite things ever...(Why do I do these things to myself!)
I decided to allow myself to have some plain cooked chicken on my salad so I didn't feel like I was completely cutting myself off from everything else. However, I was very surprised when the Alfredo wasn't even appetizing to me. I also made a side of coleslaw planning for that to be a big part of my lunch. I was pretty sure Monkey wouldn't like it (he didn't) and Dowe doesn't normally like coleslaw but LOVED this!

I shredded some purple cabbage, carrots, broccoli stems, and one zucchini....a little white vinegar, a little sugar (guilty!), and some salad dressing and it was amazing. (Sorry can't give an exact recipe cause I don't measure anything....Dowe hates that about my cooking as nothing is ever EXACTLY the same again.)
I also ate a salad and some snow peas for lunch.

Due to having to take our car to get the oil changed which required me to take Dowe to work my lunch was cut short. So I quick threw the rest of my salad into a plastic container, grabbed a kiwi, knife, and a small thing of yogurt along with some plain, whole, raw Almonds. The above mentioned were eaten over the rest of the afternoon.
At my moms later in the evening I had two ears of corn and a little more chicken.

Now I must confess to you all that I had an Almond Joy Ice Cream with my mom and Monkey at the local FAVORITE. (Something I have only had once from there this summer as its an hour and a half drive from where we live.) Normally I would have gotten a medium but I only had a small and allowed myself to fully enjoy this treat! :) And I also had two more cups of Hot Lemon Water.


Day Two! (with pictures!!!)
I'm sorry that Day One didn't have hardly any pictures! I really need to get better about that.
I did better today though I promise! :)

First thing Hot Lemon Water. :)
Then...Breakfast....

Oh My YUM!!!!

Vanilla Yogurt, Fresh Strawberries, and Sesame Seed covered Almonds.

Lunch:

ohh the veggies!

Don't judge here but the only way I will eat raw broccoli and cauliflower is with SOME kind of dip. So I made my own Dill Dip. Sour cream and dried dill weed =Instant dill dip :) 

Also that bowl of stuff is the left over coleslaw from yesterday. 

For snacks I munched on some snow peas and almonds. 

Tonight I must confess I was feeling rather hungry and so I decided to have two ham and cheese roll ups with mustard and horseradish sauce. :) 

I am currently also working on drinking my Third cup of HLW for today. 

How am I feeling you ask? Well I am already feeling so much better! I feel less bloated and a little more energy. I was up in the middle of the night with a screaming baby so I can't yet comment on the less tired part. But I really am noticing a difference already in how my body feels. Here's to hoping I can continue at this pace for the next two days! :)

That's it! In the morning I am off to buy some Lemons!!!

Back a few blog posts ago I told you all how I want to:

• Take  better care of myself so I can take better care of my boys.
• Look mad hot for my husband for our anniversary trip. This means being able to wear whatever Pre-Baby stuff I have that he would want to see me in for our little get away sometime this summer. (Possibly including a 2-Piece Swim Suit....GASP!)

Well I have been doing this on and off I guess. No where near as consistent as I want to be in taking care of myself. And I never did get around to doing much in the way of exercising other than the walks monkey and I take. Those count though right?...I get a good sweat on ;) haha. Anyways...not the point.

The point is that over the last few weeks I have noticed I have been overly tired, bloated, having issues with acne again (sorry TMI here), and just over all feeling blah!

Jami over at Call Me Blessed posted that she is doing a detox. I decided that is exactly what I need to do to get all of the toxins out of my system and get myself feeling better again!

I am not doing anything overly crazy or big but I am going to buy lemons!

My mom for a long time would drink a glass of hot lemon water first thing in the morning and I didn't quite understand why.  Until just before my wedding (Two years ago!) I realized I had randomly put on a few pounds out of nowhere and was feeling rather stressed out. My mom told me that it was probably just from all of the stress and so we did a Hot lemon water detox together for a couple of weeks before my wedding. It  was AMAZING. Within a couple of days I felt SO much better. 

Well here I am...2 years later...Getting ready and excited for the hubs and my first trip away without the baby. First time alone away from our home together since getting married!... And I feel yucky. :(

So for the next few days I am planning to do a Hot Lemon Water Detox and a Get Raw Diet. I will be attempting to eat only RAW fruits, Veggies, and Nuts for the next 3-4 days to get myself feeling over all better about me. :) 

Along with some MASSIVE amounts of Chaos Cleaning! 

I don't want to come home from the vacation feeling horrible about how the house looks. 

I don't want to waste the precious time I have alone with hubs worrying/thinking about how icky things look at home.

I want to just relax and enjoy my vacation time when it finally gets here. So I am off to go clean more tonight before Dowe gets home and get ready to go to my mom's tomorrow to help her get the house a little more "baby ready" as she is taking Monkey when we go. :)

Mommy Needs Coffee!!!

My dear sweet husband loves me to bits and pieces but he HATES that I drink coffee.


I can't help it! I just really really love a good cup of coffee.
And some days....Mommy just needs coffee!


I haven't been drinking it as frequently lately as I had been simply because 1) I am saddly out of good creamer 2) I am running really low on filters and 3) I know how much my husband really doesn't like it. (Notice number three is in third place ;) ...I love you babe!)


Well today I REALLY wanted a good cup of coffee...but when I buy coffee I buy the whole beans.
I do this cause then I can stick them in the freezer (as I am the only one who drinks coffee) and then they stay fresher longer. Only problem with that is I typically want to sit and enjoy my cup of coffee when baby monkey is napping and the bean grinder is SUPER loud and ends up waking him up without fail...every time. ugh.


I tried my hardest to just have a cup of tea and though the tea tasted good (tea a friend brought home from Africa for me :) yum!) it just didn't cut it. Mommy Needs Coffee!






So in desperation of needing coffee and making sure that Monkey continued to nap... I did this!

I took the B&D coffee grinder into the mudroom, closed the door, and ground up the beans!!!
Now with baby still napping and coffee by my side I'm ready to work! Catch ya later blogging world! :)

Beautiful Things!!.....

....Yours for the winning!


Jessi over at NaptimeDiaries is doing a HUGE end of July Giveaway!!!


Here are just a few of the pretty items you could win.... :)



Melody is giving away a mama bird's nest ring or necklace (your choice)



Kristen is giving away a grocery tote & sandwich bag combo





Tiffany is giving away this sweet monkey hat


And we can't forget our lovely Jessi!!!



the winner can pick three 8x10 prints of their choice from Naptime Diaries Shop!!!




Really no idea WHAT item I would love to win most but here's me crossing my fingers that I win SOMETHING awesome! ;) And of course I want YOU to win too...so go on over to NaptimeDiaries  and enter yourself in there to win too!

Grumpy Monkey? Check for Teeth!

So on Thursday Monkey was beyond cranky! He didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything.
He was being very naughty and I just felt like all I did all day long was discipline him! ugh!

Finally at around 7pm I decided I couldn't handle being in doors with him any longer!
So off for a walk we went. We walked for around 2 hours and walked several miles.
(my guess would be close to 5 miles.) With a few stops here and there.
Monkey being the silly boy that he is started doing a new trick on our walk.....
He now puts his hands up in the air, shakes his head back and forth, and screams!
I call it his roller coaster. (Yea...you know exactly what I mean!) It's super funny and silly and made all sorts of random strangers bust up laughing as we walked.

We finally got home, gave him a bath, and got him in to bed around 10pm.
(Did I mention that we hadn't nursed in 24 hours by this point?)
Once he was in bed I rushed around the house to get myself ready, clean some of the house, and make a special date-night-at-home dinner for the hubs and I to enjoy.


Friday my mom and dad came over for work. (I work for my parent's construction business. I run their books.) And at one point in time for some reason Monkey was on my lap and doing something silly as per usual. THERE IT WAS!!! A New TOOTH!  This momma had an AH-HA! Moment  as I finally realized what his deal was the day before, why he had a HORRIBLE diaper rash, and just was all around not himself!
My baby has a new tooth. :) He is now 13 months old and has 7 teeth. Time is just going by all too quickly.


I love you baby Monkey!

Projects, Plans, and Procrastination.

Projects
I currently have 2  make that 3 Mei Tai Projects going on! YAY!
These are my first 3 paid orders for Mei Tais and I am beyond excited! My first two orders are for two wonderful moms in my church. The first has a little girl who is around 7 weeks old and the second has a boy who is around 14 months. They've seen me carry Monkey around in the mei tai I made for us back a month or so ago and asked where they could go buy one. The third is a surprise so I am not saying who it is for. :) I can't begin to tell you all how excited this really makes me to have real official orders for these already as they will eventually be going up on my etsy shop when I get it up and going!


Plans
Over the last week Dowe and I have had some really good and very important conversations with each other. We actually had probably one of the best pillow talk times ever a couple of nights ago. It was a topic that could have been really difficult to talk about but it was a sweet time together. The three of us snuggled and hugged and kissed as Dowe and I talked. Monkey was in bed with us as he was all out of sorts with the major thunder and lightening storm we had that knocked our power out. As I've mentioned before we have been doing the FPU classes and though we aren't beyond hope in debt we also don't want to be in our 60's and still paying off debts from our early 20's. If you know anything about Dave Ramsey you know he talks about having "Gazelle Intensity" when it comes to getting out of debt. Dowe and I are currently praying about what that means for our family.  I covet your prayers that we do what God shows us in this area.


Our currently plans with this is giving me a more definitive Work time. This will mean that Mommy goes into the office (which is slightly secluded from the rest of the house) and I will be putting in a good 2 hours each morning while Dowe and Monkey get MAN TIME! I am so thankful that with us being on a better schedule this should make that transition easier. 


Procrastination....
Alright...now I'm getting really honest with you here so don't judge ok?
My house is a mess....no really...I mean it...its a mess.... see?....

Living room exploded with Monkey's Toys 

and you can't see all of the unfolded laundry on the couch.

There is a toy box under that pile there...a bookshelf next to that...and a dining room table somewhere in there.

umm...kitchen counter?...Where art thou?

Dishes Dishes EVERYWHERE!!!

Sigh...I told you...a mess!

I have been quite overwhelmed with how bad its been that I didn't even know WHERE to begin! Quite honestly...I haven't even had any sort of motivation to even try to begin to start.
I have been procrastinating horribly when it comes to all of this. *sigh* 


Not anymore!


Well...Yesterday I started. And though I have a long ways to go....I started.

Monkey's toys are picked up, all of the laundry is folded and put away 

I can see counter top!!!! And the dishes to the far right are clean.

And have been put away since I took this picture.

I had a VERY good and productive day (even with a cranky Monkey).

Dowe was blow away when he came home as to how much I got done around the house and I even spent a good amount of time sewing tonight! YAY! Straps are all sewn for mei tai order number one. :) Oh And I even spent time with Kay last night :) She came over for dinner and just to spend time together as we didn't have our small group Bible study.

I know its been quite a while since I last posted. Sorry! I will post something more soon. But for now...

Happy Father's Day! (ok so it was yesterday...but I was too busy spending the day with my boys to be able to post anything.)

Happy Father's day to my husband.


Happy Father's Day to my dad.


Happy Father's day to my father in-law.






We enjoyed a really nice long relaxing day at one of the state parks. Enjoyed some hiking, swimming below waterfalls, playing games with family. lots of food. good conversation, and beautiful sunshine!

Happy Father's day!

Happy Birthday Monkey!!!

Today my baby turns one!

Today I am thankful for all of the joy he brings to our lives.

Today I am remembering everything from the past 21 months.

Remembering how excited and scared and shocked 

we were when we found out I was pregnant. 

Remembering all of the ups and downs of my pregnancy.

Remembering how scared we were when we thought I was going to lose him.

Remembering our crazy trip across the country while I was 9 months pregnant.

Remembering our disappointment when we came home 

without our baby boy in our arms.

(Twice.) 

Remembering the night before my (second) induction and how Dowe and I just laid in bed and talked for the longest time with the reality of how our lives were about to change forever.

Remembering a year ago today how our lives changed forever.

My Dear Son,

With one flash of your smile, You melt my heart.

With your cry, You make me want to keep you safe from the whole world.

With every "Momma", You make me fall in love with you all over again.

The sound of your laugh when you play with daddy, I can't help but get misty eyed.

Watching you learn, makes me want to teach you more.

You, my dear child, Have given me so much more than I could have ever imagined.

I never knew my heart could be so full.

I can't imagine my life without you in it, nor would I want to!

Your daddy and I love you so very much.

As painfully difficult as it is to believe that you are growing up, 

we are loving every second of you.

We are looking forward to celebrating this first year we have had 

with you over the course of this whole weekend.

We love you tons and tons, and even though this weekend is going to be somewhat

crazy and jam packed, loaded with lots of family...

This weekend is all about you.

No matter what, YOU come first.

I promise you that mommy and daddy will spend lots and lots of time playing, hugging, kissing, tickling, holding, snuggling, and just being all around silly with you.

We love you big boy!

We love you.

ps...one year ago today...at 11:11pm....our wish came true.